13 August 2009

STATEMENT BY DANI MARTI

CANCELATION OF THE EXHIBIT AT GoMA – GLASGOW

Intimacy and disclosure project censored by Culture & Sport Glasgow

Culture & Sport Glasgow commissioned me, Dani Marti, as an international artist living between Sydney and Glasgow, to create an exhibition as part of the sh[OUT] : Contemporary Art and Human Rights exhibition. As a result of the decision of Culture & Sport Glasgow to cancel 3 out of 4 of my artworks which were to be shown at GoMA (Glasgow Museum of Modern Art) as part of their sh[OUT] programme, I am forced to withdraw my entire exhibition from GoMA and make alternative, independent arrangements. The integrity and cohesion of my work has been damaged.

The decision to cancel the exhibition of most of my work negates the point of the 3 month residency with GoMA and Gay Men’s Health. The point of which was to address key issues such as gay men’s health and wellbeing, social and lifestyle factors, the stigma of homosexuality, and stigma associated with HIV status and disclosure. The project was aimed at reducing marginalization, social exclusion, homophobia, and HIV related stigma. Culture & Sport Glasgow’s recent decision, unfortunately, colludes with these oppressive social forces and quashes the voice of the artist, and does a tremendous disservice to the affected communities. GoMA’s compliance with Culture & Sport Glasgow’s decision, which came about due to pressure from Glasgow City Councillors, is both offensive and disrespectful to those individuals, and the respective communities, which have contributed to the art work and borne witness to exactly this kind of silencing. The participants’ voices, their social inclusion, and their civil rights are now at stake.

The purpose of the exhibition, like all art, is to provoke thought, and in particular this exhibition has been created to invite reflection upon one’s own experience of intimacy and disclosure, one’s own sexuality, and one’s own cultural attitudes to such aspects of human life. The frankness of the interviews contrasts with the often sexually repressed culture in which we live, both within the UK and specifically within Glasgow – an area which has long been influenced by constraining and oppressive religious morals. The art works which have been censored are clearly effective in their purpose – they invite the viewer to confront difficult truths about people, their sexuality, their capacity for pain, destructiveness, hedonism and intimacy. The fact that these art works are a victim of their own success is a testament to the power of the films, and a terrible indictment on the pervasive influence of oppressive values which influenced decision-makers in their choice to censor these films.
There has been a breach of trust as the contract between GoMA, Glasgay, and the artist stated that the purpose of the commission was to bring an awareness of those key issues among the gay community to a wider audience through an exhibition at GoMA and an offsite venue.

As an individual living with the HIV virus for over 20 years, and after spending most of my life living between Sydney and Barcelona before I moved to Glasgow in 2004, I am aware now of the huge stigma that surrounds HIV in Scotland.

Around 80% of HIV infections that occur in Scotland are among gay men. In Scotland by 2012 it is predicted that the number of people living with HIV and requiring specialist care is likely to increase by 5-to-13%.

Culture & Sport Glasgow has decided to move the rest of the sh[OUT] programme and associated residencies and key speakers to an event in Tramway in late November or December 2009 – at an as yet unconfirmed date, but a much later date than the end of the sh[OUT] programmme, presumably to avoid any pressure from the press, so (in their words) “things can get discussed” in a “safer” and less public context.

The works that Culture & Sport Glasgow cancelled that were to be shown at GoMA are:

the films:

• AUSMUSDAD danimarti.com/videos/ausmusdad commissioned by Kunstalle Winterthur,
• 2009 TIME IS THE FIRE IN WHICH WE BURN danimarti.com/videos/time-is-the-fire-in-which-we-burn-2  co-funded by GoMA, Glasgow

2009 sound installation:

• PIG,  still in production

It was very important that both films were to be shown at GoMA as we have two HIV POSITIVE men being open, intimate and emotional about their thoughts, fears and dreams. One of an Australian, aged 63, divorced 15 years ago and with two children, and with a very positive outlook on life, and the other of a Glaswegian man, aged 33, who talks about his experience of becoming a prostitute who through the film reflects on his experiences and the meaning of life; a very sensitive, personal portrait. It is a key work to show in a public space like GoMA as there is such a large stigma in Scotland regarding HIV. The work would have helped so many HIV positive people – men and women – and also the general community to become more tolerant and to overcome so many preconceptions about being HIV. All the curators at GoMA, including Mark O’Neill, Head of Glasgow Museums, understood the importance of the work, but orders from “above” decided to “re-schedule” the viewing to one Sunday afternoon at Tramway and to then let us talk about it in a “safer” more secluded environment under the banner ‘sh[OUT] Debate: A Response’.

Culture & Sport Glasgow have objected to the frontal nudity and intimacy in AUSMUSDAD and to the conversations on drug consumption and a fisting reference in TIME IS THE FIRE IN WHICH WE BURN. The films include sometimes disturbing descriptions of life, sexuality, and include experiences of prostitution and drug addiction. It is not the purpose of art to gloss over the stark and often painful realities of life, but to give an alternative reading of it.  When I explained to Culture & Sport Glasgow that AUSMUSDAD was recently screened in a Museum in Zurich with public acclaim their response was that Zurich is a much more advanced city for the Arts than Glasgow, and that the public in Glasgow was not educated enough and was not ready for it.

I agreed with GoMA and with Mark O’Neill, to enclose the screening area and to accordingly label it as 15+, and to publicly state some of the nature of the content of the films in order to give people a free choice of whether to enter the space or not. I was called into a second meeting two days later, and I was told, under the instructions of Bridget McConnell, Chief Executive of Culture and Sport Glasgow, that none of the films or the sound installation were going to be shown at GoMA.

PIG is a collaborative sound work with sound designer Diana Simpson: A dark and abstract exploration through sound into a pulsating underworld where echoes of intimate voices challenge the listener's comfort zone. An abstraction referencing real sounds recorded from a gay nightclub – dance area and dark room – in Berlin. Following contact with Glasgow City Council, Culture & Sport Glasgow decided that it could be problematic and cancelled the work.

As an artist, I see the two films, the sound piece, and the big installation (Orifices, take2) of red blood scourers planned for the balcony area, as representing one single, coherent piece of work. As such it is conceptually impossible, and artistically incongruous, to separate out the pieces and simply remove those which the Council believe some viewers may find hard to reconcile with their own personal life experiences.

It is primarily an artistic project with a social conscience, which, due to other circumstances, now has a political dimension. It is a clear example of a homophobic position, evidently still very pertinent with some individuals of the City Council.

As a result of the current situation, I have decided to rethink the exhibition in response to Culture & Sport Glasgow’s decision:

ORIFICES (take2)
The only work accepted to be shown at GoMA, addressing HIV in an abstract and non-confronting way, which was to be two huge islands of plastic blood red scourer hanging from both internal balconies, of aprox. 4x3m each, involving 6601 scourers as the number of HIV positive cases registered in the last census. The work will now take the form of small red blood islands that will be placed in key locations around the city, from 1st to 10th September 2009. These sculptures will become part of the wider community in Glasgow: Central Station, George Square, Mitchell Library, CCA, Tramway, Op. Concert Hall, under the statue of Donald Dewer, Trongate…

I will be looking for volunteers to carry on the distribution and documentation of the different islands. If interested, please get back to me: dani@danimarti.com

For further information on ORIFICES, please have a look on danimarti.com/texts then go to 2000, Ann Finnegan, ‘Thin Wall’

4 Parnie St. – opening on the 10th September 2009
This will be the second part of the exhibition that was meant to run parallel to the exhibition at GoMA, and I hope that we can still run with it.

DISCLOSURE a four component video installation
The project consists of seven films in which individuals from a range of backgrounds and with a range of life experiences speak openly and candidly about their thoughts, their values and their life experiences. Some of these discussions naturally make uncomfortable viewing.

The three cancelled works that were to be exhibited at GoMA will not be shown at Parnie Street, but will be available for viewing for one day at Tramway, Glasgow. Date still to be confirmed…

Key documents, included as part of Dani Marti's statement:

Email correspondence between Dani Marti and Culture and Sport Glasgow representatives

Subject: CSG censor shOUT exhibition

Dani Marti's official statement to Bridget McConnell, Chief Executive of Culture and Sport Glasgow.
From: Dani Marti
To: Brigitte McConnell Mark O'Neill Sean McGlashan

Dear Bridget, Mark and Sean,

Re; shOUT exhibition

I am writing to let you know that I am very disappointed about the decision of Culture & Sport Glasgow to withdraw three pieces of work, out of four, from my planned exhibition at GoMA as part of the Shout exhibition.

I feel it is disrespectful to all those individuals who have contributed to my work. Both their voices and their important civil rights are now at stake. It is sad you have been forced to act as a result of the negative press around the religious aspects of the programme. My residency had nothing to do with religion and is addressing the important issue of living with HIV.

As a result of your decision I am forced to take things further, as a professional artist, and an individual, that has made a commitment to the community represented in my work. I feel that the integrity and cohesion of my work has been damaged and negates the point of the 3 month residency with GoMA and Gay Men’s Health. It also damages the ability of the exhibition to reach a wider audience. I am forced to withdraw my entire exhibition from GoMA and make alternative, independent arrangements.

I am aware of a planned symposium in November at Tramway, and I agree to the two videos concerned to be shown in such context.

All the best

Dani Marti

Bridget McConnell’s emailed response

Subject: CSG censor shOUT exhibition

Jean Finlayson Sent on behalf of Bridget McConnell, Chief Executive

Dear Dani,

I write in response to your e-mail of 8 August.

As you know, Culture and Sport Glasgow manages a wide portfolio of museums and galleries and provides support to both the arts and artists through a city-wide programme of work.

The sh[OUT] programme and associated residencies and outreach exhibition were designed to highlight, through art, issues which are faced by LGBTI communities in Scotland today. Our aim remains to explore those issues, with the express desire that we do so in a way which focuses on both the artistic content and the emotional and societal context of the work. As you are no doubt aware, the response, in some quarters to the sh[OUT] programme has detracted from that core ambition.

In that respect, we have reassessed some of the planned work and offered alternatives which will keep the focus on the artistic endeavour. As GoMA is a public gallery, it is crucial that we fully understand the context in which work is placed. I am of the opinion that it would not be beneficial to run the risk of losing such focus on both the art and issues involved.

I understand your disappointment, but I also wish to take this opportunity to thank you for agreeing to contribute to the event which is planned for November.

Regards,

Bridget

Jean Finlayson
PA to Chief Executive
Culture and Sport Glasgow